00:00Guys, many of you know I love the Christmas season, I love the lighting fall candles,
00:05I love the cold temperatures, Christmas lights, Christmas music, and all the festivities that
00:11come with it. But more importantly, I love what it symbolizes, which is the birth of Jesus Christ.
00:16Earlier this week, I wanted to tell you that I was in my bedroom and I happened to glance down
00:23and I saw two black slippers sneaking out under my side of the bed and immediately tears come
00:32and they start to trickle down and I go over there, sit down on the floor, just kind of like a little
00:37child, and I touch those slippers and I go down memory lane. Those slippers were my father's
00:43and they are with me everywhere I go. It's just a memory I decided to take home with me
00:49so I can always remember my father. But I went back to my childhood years, my teen years,
00:55my adult years, and everything I learned from my father. He was my rock. He was solid. He had sound
01:03advice always for me. He had huge vision to reach America, the world, people. He wanted to help
01:11everyone. He wanted to restore everyone. I mean, he was just an incredible man and he loved his
01:16desserts. So at Christmas, I could see him eating those desserts and then playing his guitar,
01:22sometimes singing away, playing games, telling jokes with that little twinkle in his eye.
01:28So all of this is going on and tears are just coming down and I'm thinking of dad.
01:34But immediately, I started thinking of all the other people right now, all these families who have
01:40lost someone this year. And this is going to be the first Christmas. And I felt such a sensitivity,
01:46such a compassion that I must try to reach out to some of these families because I know what it's
01:52like to have that first Christmas without him, without her, without the child, without the spouse,
01:59without the brother, without that family member, that friend. It's brutal. And then the grief,
02:05grieving process and the depression that comes with it afterward, it can be horrific.
02:10So I wanted to encourage all of you to think of someone that you can send a card to
02:15or buy a candle to brighten up their day, maybe some coffee or coffee mugs. And honestly, truly,
02:23I remember those little notes that a few friends would mail to me. They would take time to write
02:30down maybe a scripture or Stephanie, you're on my thoughts. I'm praying for you. And even a text
02:36helped. Sometimes people think you're fine because you're not plastering it all over social media,
02:41but deep inside you're grieving. They don't know you're spinning your pajamas all day long or that
02:45you don't want to go outside, that you become reclusive, that you're keeping to yourself. You're
02:50in darkness in your mind right now. You're grieving the one that you love deeply. It's a very hard place
02:56to be in. And I've been there so, and I know many of you have too. So I just wanted to encourage all of
03:02us to think of someone who has lost someone, reach out to them. And then also a single mother or a
03:11single father who has gone through a divorce because that's a loss also. It hurts when you go
03:16through divorce. And anybody else, a widow, there's so many people who need encouragement. So this is
03:24the best time of the year to reach out and to show the love of Christ and to give an encouraging word
03:30to someone. I hope all of you are having a Merry Christmas and God bless you.
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